Competency (Lean & CI)- Gurmeet 2016

Competencies Examples
(Examples of some project work undertaken by me during the last 10 years)
Gurmeet Singh Guliani
Dated: December 2016

Gurmeet Singh Guliani – Lean Competencies Examples
REPORTING AND ACCOUNTING
As the Lean Six Sigma Black Belt for 3M Canada I undertook the following two transactional
lean six sigma projects - 2005
 Request for Quotes (RfQ):
When customers called 3M for quotes, it would take upto 40 days to receive the quote.
Although the average time to reply to RfQ was 8 days but when I collected data and
conducted analysis I found that the response time to RfQ didn’t follow the standard bell
curve. Instead it was an exponential graph where the cycle time reached 30 days for 95%
customer satisfaction and 42 days for 99.9% customer satisfaction. 3M regularly received
complaints from customers about delay in getting quotes. We followed the DMAIC
methodology to find the root cause of the problem and then implemented corrective action.
We created an order entry matrix with service attributes such as material, size, color, quality,
finish, packaging etc to facilitate quick response to customer. A standard excel template was
prepared with quick quotes for most of the requested options by customers. This reduced the
average RfQ cycle time to 1 day and 99.9% customer satisfaction time to 5 days. We later
designed a GUI and web base system so that customer could get quotes in real time.
 Inventory and Billing Errors:
Almost 0.8% of customer invoices had errors. A few customers were being under-billed
leading to unknown amount of losses for the company. We quantified the cost to fix billing
errors and found it to be around $200,000 annually (time and interest charge losses) to the
company. We developed templates, cross checks and other basic controls to reduce billing
errors by 95%.
As the Sr. Lean Coach for Shell Canada and working for the Carmon Creek Project - 2012
 Operations Expenses cost reduction:
- Identified key areas for expense reduction opportunities (both Operations Expenses and
Owner’s cost), and lead cross-departmental efforts to realize reductions. Lead a team to
reduce Well’s Maintenance Opex. Applied Learning Curves to the cost thereby reducing
annual cost by $50 million.
- Applied benchmarking results to challenge current cost.
- Played major role in cost management review meetings and cost management activities.
- Partnered with Contract & Procurement to ensure savings opportunities are realized and
appropriately included in Opex and Owner’s cost
 Long Term Service Agreement cost saving:
Participated in development of Long Term Service Agreement (LTSA) for maintenance of
Gas Turbine’s with Siemens. Conducted a number of analysis on optimal payment terms,
timing for payment of annual fees, Opex, and Capex impact and helped in arriving at an
efficient and effective agreement

PROCESS & DATA MANAGEMENT
As the Sr. Lean Coach for Shell Canada and working for Mine Maintenance (Albian Sand – Fort
McMurry) 2011 to 2012
 Led a number of Kaizens for improvement at Mine Maintenance in Albian. Achieved a total
saving of $185 million for Mine Maintenance. Used my “Change Management” and
“Business Process Improvement” expertise to lead E2E process improvements. Below I have
shared a few examples.
 Started Visual Measures board for Ideas Generation and Management in Mine Maintenance.
Developed the complete process of submitting improvement ideas. This lead to
implementation of about 450 improvement ideas by the technicians and team leads leading to
cost saving of more than $10 million and strong employee engagement and higher motivation
 Reduced Preventive Maintenance (PM) time for 797 Haul trucks by 75%
o Designed the project from data collection to system solution implementation phase.
o Improved the data collection mechanism by developing and implementing a simplified
method of data collection. Used RFID tags and visual measures to automatically
collect and verify data. This improved the data quality (accuracy, validity, timeliness,
and completeness).
o Simplified the PM planning process. Eliminated non value added steps and
standardized the process. Made the plans visual
o Optimized the complete value stream of spares parts ordering to consumption and
return of unused parts to Finning. This included optimizing the requisition to pay
process, ordering the parts process, using accurate data for inventory of parts,
development of kitting system to supply parts to the correct truck bays at the right
time, and streamlining the parts return system. This brought us savings of $43 million
annually
o After streamlining the data collection, parts ordering, and PM planning process, I
conducted the “Quick Changeover Kaizen” to reduce the PM time for the trucks from
around 5 hours to less than 45 minutes.
o Every hour the truck spent in mine delivering ore to the plant instead of sitting in the
maintenance shop, brought $20,000 of revenue to the company. The project saved
7500 hours of maintenance time per year leading to $150 million additional revenue
 Developed the “Lean Practitioners” (LP) training program. To be certified as an LP, one has
to take 5 days classroom training followed by completing a lean project and leading a Kaizen.
LP’s have to submit a project implementation report and pass the test. We trained more than
450 LP’s. I personally guided a number of LP’s to complete their Kaizens. I also provided
basic lean training to more than 800 operators and technicians.
 Kaizen for the Heavy Oil Finance team. The objective of this Kaizen was to “Improve the
Business Performance reporting for Heavy Oil”. I structured the Kaizen to ensure successful
use of the participant’s time and knowledge. The team identified a number of new KPI’s,
Visual Measures, metrics management responsibilities and accountabilities, tested the

dashboard with leadership team and agreed on a standard way of reporting. This saved 1000
manhours of redundant data entry and reporting time.
 Kaizen for Optimization of HR Onboarding process. Typically, an new recruit would take
more than 30 days to be fully on boarded and ready to contribute to the company. The on-
boarding process included a number of safety trainings, plant trips, online trainings
completion, filing up some forms etc. We prepared a Value Steam Map for the Hiring and
Onboarding process and identified a number of non-value added steps and wastes. I set up
standardized process for training and onboarding different types of recruits (technical vs
administrative), prepared relevant checklist, created dedicated computer center for online
training, started buddy systems to help answer question and provide quick plant tours and
developed relevant KPI’s to measure the timelines for onboarding. We reduced the
onboarding time from 30 days to 7 days and improved satisfaction level of new recruits.
 Data Entry Time and Errors: (As the Plant Manager for GE – 2008)
I noted that the operators spent 15 - 30 minutes (average 19 min) to enter production info into
the computer at the end of their shift. Slow computers and internet, cumbersome data forms
which required operators to perform some calculations, further compounded the issues. There
were lot of errors in the entered data and we had one dedicated person just to fix the errors. I
simplified the data entry form by using bar code. I also created flow cells so that one team
lead could enter data for 8 machines. This improved the information flow, data accuracy, data
integrity, productivity, and employee morale. Total data entry time was reduced from around
1000 minutes per day to 100 minutes.
 Payroll Information Management: (As the Plant Manager for GE – 2007)
I streamlined the weekly payroll information management for the Production Supervisors.
Every week the Production Supervisor had to edit the info on labor production and operator’s
time for payroll purpose. He had to click on the name of each employee in payroll software to
verify the production information and worked time entered by the employees. He then had to
calculate total worked hours and also had to correct entry mistakes to generate payroll info. It
took him 6 to 8 hours each week to do the job for 100+ employees which included chasing the
operators who forgot to enter their information. I worked with IT team to change the system.
Operators could no longer enter wrong data. They didn’t have to fill daily time. The data from
all operators was presented on one sheet and with one click, the production supervisor could
approve the time for all operators. He could do this including the required checks in 5 to 10
minutes per week thereby saving almost a full day of wasted time and frustrations.

BUSINESS PARTNERING & VALUE MANAGEMENT
As the Sr. Lean Coach for Shell Canada and supporting the Carmon Creek Project - 2014
 I was given the challenge to review Operations Expenses (Opex) for the green field project
and optimize it. I had to interacted regularly with Project Services (for monthly cost reports),
Economists (for development of Opex, sensitivity analysis for variety of production
scenarios), Project Finance (for information on detailed Owner’s cost expenses), Business
Opportunity Manager (BOM) (to report on changes to Opex and Owner’s cost), Finance
Manager (to review cost saving initiatives), CP( for cost information on a variety of
equipment, parts, and services), Project Engineers (to understand changes to plant design and
costs associated with various design option), HSSE (to understand costs associated with
HSSE role), Operations Readiness & Assurance (ORA) & Commissioning & Start Up (CSU)
team (to understand the technical aspects of the project and to develop accurate cost for the
project), HR (to design correct staffing profile for the project and manage staffing cost) and a
number of suppliers and vendors (to get preliminary cost for CSU services). These
relationships and multiple perspectives helped me independently arrive at my own opinion on
business directions after taking into account multiple facets and perspectives (not just
financial)
 Conducted a number of analyses to optimize the Opex. These analyses exposed various
uncertainties and influenced a number of design decisions for the project thereby optimizing
the “value” of our investment. One example of this value creation was the optimal use of the
Treated Produced Gas by change of design parameters for our OTSG (On through steam
generators). Another example of value management was “2 Gas Turbines (GT)” vs “3 Gas
Turbines” decision. I conducted detailed analysis (data collection, interviews, and calculation
of NPV, VIR, Payback time, Capex and Opex requirement to show the merit of 3 GT’s vs 2
GT’s. To complete the analysis, I had to consult a number of internal and external
stakeholders, get assurance of the information, benchmark the data, and reach logical
conclusion. The decision to go with 3 Cogens was finally agreed and approved by the Project
Manager.
As the LeanManager for 3M Canada - 2006
 Developed “3M Manufacturing System” as part of 3M’s world manufacturing leadership
team. While working as Lean Manager at 3M Canada, I was part of the world manufacturing
leadership team. The objective of the team was to develop a world class Manufacturing
Management System for all the 3M plants worldwide. As a leading member of the team, I had
to partner with a number of 3M leaders worldwide and visited a number of 3M plants in US
and Europe to develop the manufacturing management system. The system is in place in all
the 3M plants worldwide. I received a number of recognitions and rewards for the effort

BUSINESS PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
As the Sr. Lean Coach for Shell Canada and supporting Albain Sands Operations - 2011
 I was given the task to improve the functioning and performance of the Mine Maintenance
operations. To improve and manage performance, the first step was to develop strategic
planning, set goals / targets, and create and implement tactical plans. Below is an example of
the Tactical delivery plan which I created and executed for the Mine Maintenance
 I created a team of 6 Lean Practitioners to improve the functioning of the Mine Maintenance
shop and shared long and short range goals with them. The team members were assigned
responsibility, authority and autonomy to execute small projects. I coached and taught them
the lean sigma tools to execute their projects. We created project plans, milestones, critical
success factors, and detailed project activities. I monitored and measured the results by
developing a number of KPI’s, prepared and lead an effective reporting and appraisal process
involving the relevant stakeholders. I also executed standard work for leaders, developed a lot
visual indicators to help effectively and easily manage the business performance. By
following the PDCA cycle (Plan, Do , Check, Adjust), I was able to constantly check the
performance of our initiatives and adjust them to suit business goals and objectives. We

achieved a total savings of $185 million for the mine maintenance operations through a
number of Lean Six Sigma projects execution.
 Aligning the Department with Leadership Vision. Hoshin is an excellent tool to align the
whole organization with the vision of the leadership. I used Hoshin to align the Mine
Maintenance Organization with the leadership vision. Here are examples of X Matrix chart
and 3 levels of Annual Table associated with it.
Level 1: Annual Plan Table
Objective Projects Owner Measures Goals
Reduce 2012 Expense
budget by $10 Million
Prepare a report on item wise
and department wise expenses.
Analyze where we are spending
most.
Spensar Cook Report time
Finish by Jan
15, 2012
Have optimum inventory of
parts
Andrew
Inventory Min, Max,
Reorder point for all
items
Get it place by
May 30, 2012
Reduce Support Equipment
breakdowns. Identify
breakdown causes
Rob King
50% increase in Mean
time between
stoppages
Finish by Nov
30, 2012
Reduce Shovels breakdowns.
Identify breakdown causes
Dino Colbourne
time between
stoppages
Finish by Nov
30, 2012
Reduce Trucks breakdowns and
improve MTBS
Keith Bergey
time between
stoppages
Finish by Nov
30, 2012

Reduce Truck breakdown
and improve MTBS
Conduct field inspection and
check on Trucks when they are
being refueled
Team Lead - Field
Daily report on truck
inspection
45 reports per
day
Conduct root cause analysis on
Truck Breakdowns. Do a Pareto
Dave Walsh Report
Finish by Jan
30, 2012
Have optimum inventory of
Hoses
Pat McCormick Hoses availability
99%+ hoses
availablity by
March 30,
2012
In field coolant and oil change
equipment
Ed McQueen Equipment availablity
Have in-field
equipment for
Oil change
and coolant
change by
April 30, 2012
Improve Technician Tool Time
from 30% to 40%
Gurmeet Guliani Tool Time
Improve tool
time from 30%
to 40%
Improve Truck tire life by 10% Todd Dahlman Averagetire life
Increase life of
tire to 8000
hrs by May 30,
2012
Improve Technician Tool
time from 30% to 40%
Conduct a study of current tool
time. Drawa Paretoof
unproductive tool time
Spensar Cook Meeting time schedule
Finish by Jan
30, 2012
Reduce morning Assess meeting
time by 50%
Keith Bergey Meeting time
Reduce from
45 min to 25
min by Jan 30,
2012
Set up Supermarkets in all bays Nigel Venantius
Supermarket in each
bay
Have
supermarkets
in place by
May 30, 2012
Set up problem boards in all
bays
Joe Edwards
No of problem boards
and employee training
to use them
Finish by
March 30,
2012
Develop a periodic schedule to
conduct tool time studies
Keith Bergey Schedule posted
Finish by Jan
30, 2012
Arrangeoptimal transportation
system for field mechanics
Dino Colbourne
Breakdown
communication
system. Dedicated
truck availability
Finish by
March 30,
2012

INPUTS TO PROJECT DELIVERY
 As the Sr. Lean Coach for Shell and working on the Carmon Creek Project (CCP)- 2014, I
developed good understanding of the Shell’s process of Capital Project Management. As part
of the CCP project, I observed the project pass through various reviews, stage gates, and Final
Investment Decision (FID). I reviewed the Document Control and Framework standards and
delivered the required documents for the Project Control and Execution. I was exposed to the
Project Control Framework, managing Decision Gates, and Opportunity Realization
Standards (ORS). While developing and reviewing the Operations Expenses for the project
including the Owner’s cost, I fully understood the main elements of project cost estimation,
activity based costing, work breakdown structures, and cost breakdown structures. I regularly
reviewed the Value of Work Done (VOWD), project budget and managed the day to day
expenses for the ORA-CSU team. I also worked closely with project schedulers to keep the
project cost in line with the project schedule. I had to update the Owner’s cost and Opex to
keep up the project schedule changes
 As the “Risk Focal” for the ORA-CSU team, I managed all the risks for the team using the
Easy Risk software. I organized monthly risk meeting where we evaluated various issues risks
/ opportunities, ranked them as per bow ties and Shell’s Risk Assessment matrix, developed
effective and efficient actions to mitigate the risks, and managed them regularly to keep the
threats in check and developed the opportunities

TAKING INITIATIVES
 Learning Club: (As the Plant Manager for GE – 2007)
I started a Learning Club at GE. The objective was to create interest in all my direct reports to
read more especially new techniques on performance improvement, lean six sigma, business
strategy, and continuous improvement. We used to pick up a book which most of the people
wanted to read and review one chapter of the book every week. This improved the team spirit,
created buy-in for new ideas, and enhanced learning for the staff.
 Scrap Reduction Project: (As the Plant Manager for GE – 2008)
At GE, we used to manufacture uranium pellets and fuel bundles for nuclear power plants. We
were accountable for every gram of uranium. The plant was at its peak production capacity. To
increase throughput I decided to focus on scrap reduction which was around 20% of total uranium
pellets produced. I prepare the project charter, gathered a team, and started the project. To create
a sense of urgency to reduce scrap, I asked the project team members to create a process map and
quantify scrap generation at various stages of production. When the results for the amount of
scrap generated were shared with everyone, operators realized the gravity of the problem and
losses it was causing to the plant. I trained and coached the team on DMAIC (Define, Measure,
Analyze, Improve, and Control) methodology. We reduced scrap by 75% and increased
productivity. We celebrated the success and standardized the new process to sustain the benefits.
 Community Initiative:
We have strong Sikh Community in Calgary. We meet on a monthly basis and organize a
“Community Kitchen” to provide free food for the needy. I created the initiative to replace
“foam” plates with environment friendly plates. I also started the practice of composting the left-
over food. This created environmental awareness among a number of people and they carried the
message to their homes and people around them.
 TPM Initiative: (As the Lean Manager for 3M Canada – 2006)
3M Canada manufactured a huge number of products and had to do frequent changeovers and
depend a lot of technicians to repair machines. Unfortunately, the maintenance resources were
stretched thin and were not able to meet plant requirements thus impacting plant availability. I
started tracking the OEE and shared the shocking results (38% OEE) with the senior managers.
To improve availability, I initiated the Total Predictive Maintenance (TPM) project. In
collaboration with the Maintenance Manager, I identified daily, weekly, and monthly
maintenance tasks which the operators could do themselves without support from maintenance
technicians. I designed a training program where we educated the operators on doing minor
maintenance tasks and manage minor machine stoppages. We standardized these tasks, created
maintenance checklists for each machine to encourage operators to regularly perform these tasks.
The availability of the plant improved by 9% and maintenance costs reduced by 15%. Employee
engagement and ownership improved drastically thereby improving the overall OEE to 55%.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
New Product Design and Production: (As the Plant Manager for GE 2009)
GE Nuclear was approached by a new customer (Bruce Power) to produce a new product for them.
Bruce Power’s existing supplier (Cameco) had a worker strike which crippled their supply of
uranium bundles. They wanted the new product in 2 months to keep their operations running. To
succeed, we had to make changes to the existing product design, change our production schedule,
train our operators, hire new operators, and pass design and quality reviews.
I signed new purchase contract with the raw material (uranium and zirconium tubes) suppliers and
received raw material in time. I made the necessary changes in our production schedule and kept our
staff motivated to work overtime to meet customer’s requirements. Our design team completed the
design of the new product as the existing customer design has some deficiencies. We recommended
better end cap dimensions, bevel angles, and thickness of inner tube to the customer. The customer
really appreciated the better product design and agreed to the design. We completed the process
qualification , had the customer sign off on product and process qualification documentation. It was
like starting a new factory. We delivered the sample bundle 4 weeks late but the customer was
delighted because of my attention to details, swift project management, developing a better bundle,
and delivering very good quality product with proper documentation. We delighted the customer and
received another big order for 2010. My manager recognized my work with the Manager’s award for
delivering to customer satisfaction.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
 Inventory Reduction: (As the Lean Manager for 3M Canada – 2006)
3M had a big problem with huge inventory of products. 3M Canada makes around 6,000 SKU
and keeping inventory of many of these items was very problematic. For some SKU we had huge
inventory and for others we had very low inventory. I assessed the customer demand for top 20%
SKUs by volume and also identified very low demand SKU’s. We optimized the SKU’s by
eliminating certain product sizes, increasing pricing of low demand SKU’s (as the production
changeover to these SKU’s was very expensive), created a dedicated production line for high
demand SKU’s and a separate production line (with low changeover time) for low demand
SKU’s. I calculated the optimized inventory level for the SKU’s, created a system of visual
management to monitor the inventory levels. We developed long term relationship with our
suppliers to get more frequent shipment of raw material and created pull system in our warehouse
to reduce inventories. We optimized our production planning to create smaller batch sizes with
more frequent deliveries. This reduced our lead time by 70%, reduced our inventory by 50% and
increase our inventory turns from 5 to 23. This increased customer satisfaction tremendously and
also improved the company’s profitability.
 Quality Complaints: (As the Lean Manager for 3M Canada – 2006)
3M received a number of quality complaints from customers. These complaints took an average
of 2 weeks to be fixed but due to firefighting mentality and siloed organization structure, the root
cause of the problems were never fixed and the company experiences same problems again and
again. I created a cross functional team involving Sales, Quality, and Operations. We examined
each quality complaint and used DMAIC methodology to find the root cause. We started weekly
meeting for the cross functional team to review quality complaints. I trained the staff on root
cause finding (problem solving) techniques to eliminate the root cause of the issues, developed a
number of Poke-Yokes to reduce defects at source, cross trained operators on quality checks and
improvement techniques and helped the engineers with some automations for quality checks. We
standardized the processes and created visual measures and KPI’s to ensure the standards were
followed. We also changed the organization structure and removed department heads to create
value stream heads to manage the complete value stream and got rid of departmental silos and
blame culture. I developed a number of KPI’s to manage and improve quality. This reduced the
lead time by 10% and reduced quality complaints by 80%.

CREATING LEAN CUTLURE
Here is what I believe in and practice to implement Lean
1) Think long term
2) Build a culture of stopping to fix problems – to get quality right the first time
3) Standardize tasks – have stable and repeatable processes
4) Use Visual controls so no problems are hidden
5) Redesign processes to create flow. Reduce waiting time for material. Use Pull to avoid
overproduction
6) Level workload – have cross trained and flexible workforce
7) Go & see for yourself. Fully understand the actual situation
8) Listen to your employees. Have a strong suggestion system in place
9) Grow leaders and exceptional people & teams who thoroughly understand their work
10) Help your suppliers and challenge them to improve
11) Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options and then implement
decisions rapidly
12) Become a learning organization through relentless reflection & continuous improvement

Competency (Lean & CI)- Gurmeet 2016

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